The Beginning of the End: Chapter 2
Previously:The Beginning of the End: Chapter 1 Joule Wayco stepped onto the deck of the ship and stretched his arms out wide. Missing out on a whole night’s sleep was really going to affect his performance in practice today, but he didn’t really mind. It was all just to make sure that the crew kept improving their skills before they decided when it was appropriate to enter the New World together. It was best to know your comrades every strength and weakness, both on and off the battlefield; if you know your friend’s weakness, then you would be able to better help them in case of an emergency. That was the purpose of these practices. He looked across the ship and saw everybody performing their usual activities before the session: Ankh was fishing in order to get extra food and medical supplies (from the fish, as far as he knew), Emiko was bringing out breakfast, Dime was inspecting the ship, Jeremy was studying books and maps, Timothy was checking the course of the ship, Ulrich was brooding, Zoey was sighting in the cannons, and Redd was- “Surprise attack!!” Wayco barely had time to turn around before Redd landed on top of him and knocked him to the ground. Redd erupted with laughter, “You have to expect the unexpected!” He helped Wayco pull himself up off of the deck. Emiko rolled her eyes. “You do realize that screaming ‘surprise attack’ defeats the purpose, right?” She set the plates down on the table near the bow of the ship, and the rest of the crew began to swarm in to get their share before Ulrich noticed the food was out. Redd scratched his head and gave her a questionable look. “But, how would they know that you were surprising them?” His tone revealed that he was truly oblivious to her reasoning. “You’re such a moron!” Emiko punched him in the back of the head, sending him sprawling across the ship and leaving a large knot on his head. His tumble came to an end once he knocked into Ulrich. Ulrich’s eyes bolted open, and he instinctively threw Redd back to where he came from, once again crashing into Wayco. “I smell food.” Ulrich’s tone was flat as he flared his nostrils in order to determine what the meal was comprised of. The rest of the crew began to rapidly stuff their pockets with whatever food they could before he- “It shall be mine!!” Ulrich drew his sword and sprinted towards the table of food. The crew then scattered out of the way as he kicked the table into the air, and proceeded to slice the food swiftly and precisely with his sword. He then pointed his sword towards the sky, and the pieces of food landed onto the sword in a kebab. “Well, there went that meal. Again.” Timothy stated in a dry voice as he walked towards the stern of the sheep, preparing to take hold of the wheel. Ankh slumped his shoulders. “Dang it, Ulrich; why don’t you at least try to save some for the rest of us, man?” He strolled back to his fishing rod and plopped down to resume business. The rest of the crew followed suit, returning to their usual duties while Ulrich ate an unfairly large portion of the food. Wayco found it funny, though, as he couldn’t help but chuckle to himself about how silly the entire ordeal was. It happened all the time, and even though everyone would get aggravated over it, nobody would ever do anything to change it. Deep down, he knew they all felt the same way: it’s just who he is. Even though he wasn’t able to grab any food, he knew that Emiko would go right back to cooking, happy and cheerful as ever; if not a little easily aggravated. The crew, regardless of whether or not their food was taken, got along just fine. “Don’t just take my books, you imbecile!” Jeremy rushed after Timothy with a broom raised over his head. Timothy was several feet in front of him, calmly flipping through the pages as he ran around the ship to avoid him. “I’ll take what I please when I need it. I’ll return it shortly.” Jeremy continued to scream and chase after him anyway. Everyone else laughed at the spectacle, including Wayco. Ten Years Ago… The first two days were the hardest. Wayco could tell that the lack of food and sleep was starting to get to him and his little brother. Torn was surprisingly resilient, though; he complained only a little, if any at all, and most of the time the two spent drifting in the sea was in silence, as the pair could only sit in mourning of their late family. Every time one of them was about to speak, they would only begin to choke on their tears and salt water. Thankfully, there were no remnants of the storm anywhere to be seen, so at least they didn’t have to worry about the weather too much. The sun was hot, for sure, but it was far better than being in the middle of another torrential storm like the last. After two days had passed, the two brothers had yet to see a single ship, even on the far reaches of the horizon. They simply clang to each other in desperation, but in the face of the impossible odds, they continued to survive. By the fourth day, the brothers had to alternate sleeping shifts, so that they both wouldn’t fall asleep and slide out of the preserver and get separated: in this situation, Wayco and Torn both knew that was the worst possible thing that could happen. Few words were spoken between the two: barely more than a handful of sentences. It felt like a waste of energy to try to talk, so the pair sat in silence, drifting amidst an endless blanket of blue water. Wayco was just happy that Torn was with him; or rather, that he was with Torn. He knew he had to be there for his brother’s sake, but a part of him knew that if Torn hadn’t been fortunate enough to make it, then there would be little point in continuing to drift on the South Blue. He would have let himself fall into the cold black underworld at the bottom of the sea, never to see sunshine again. At least now, he had hope to cling on to- his little brother. He found it easy to focus on how peacefully Torn slept during all this time. It was as if nothing was bothering him at all while he slept; neither nightmare nor sweet dream, which suited him just fine. He knew that Torn needed a break from all the disaster that had so recently occurred. Sometimes, however, he could just barely hear Torn murmur in his sleep. He would talk to their mother, father, and sister, saying their names and calling for them multiple times. His face was never disturbed throughout all of it, so Wayco only hoped that they weren’t nightmares. Wayco had nightmares, though; he had them every time that he would close his eyes. Flashes of lightning, booms of thunder, howling of winds, heat of the fire, cold from the water, and screams of his family repeatedly manifested themselves in his subconscious, only showing themselves whenever he would drift into sleep. Whether or not it was a light sleep, or a deep sleep, they plagued him all the same. He prayed for a savior to come. Someone, something: anything. They couldn’t’ survive out in the sea much longer; not like this. Then he saw a white speck on the horizon. ' Present Day…' ''' '''Wayco felt a light tapping on his shoulder. He spun around to see Jeremy throwing a punch towards his face. He had plenty of time to react, but his thoughts were in different places. Jeremy’s fist smashed into Wayco’s face, but it only made him stumble: Jeremy wasn’t known for being the physically strongest person in the crew, but his tactical prowess and vast knowledge helped him win more fights than Wayco cared to remember. This wasn’t a tactical fight however; it was simply a spar so that the two could get warmed up. “You seem to be elsewhere, Wayco. You shouldn’t let your mind wander when you need to focus.” Out of nearly pure muscle memory, Wayco was able to dodge most of Jeremy’s poorly thrown punches. They had fought several times before, but Wayco had been in as many fights as Jeremy had read books. He was perfectly capable of reading Jeremy’s moves, even without the use of Kenbunshoku Haki. Jeremy just wasn’t about a purely physical fight, and there was little to no chance that he was going to faze Wayco in such a distracted mental state. “Awh, come on Wayco! Do something besides just dodge! Get your head in the game!” Redd was getting impatient; more of a pouty impatient than an aggravated one, though. His arms were folded tightly across his chest, and his veins were bulging out of his head from eagerness to start the real practicing. Wayco decided it was probably time to wrap the spar up, anyway. He shook his head clear of distractions while he dodged another few punches and kicks from Jeremy. Once he saw an opening in Jeremy’s defense after a roundhouse kick, Wayco delivered a swift sweep to the leg he stood on and quickly placed his foot down on Jeremy’s chest before he even knew what had happened. “You’re a little sloppy today, man.” Ankh had a smirk plastered to his face, and he nudged Ulrich with his elbow to get him to grunt in agreement. Wayco just laughed and verbally agreed: Ankh was right, he really was sloppy today. If Redd was eager to spar with him next, then he wouldn’t last very long. Wayco reached a hand out to help pull Jeremy up. “I’d have to agree with Ankh. You really weren’t doing your best. I’d suggest getting little more sleep next time we have a sparring session in the morning. It seems to affect your performance.” Jeremy dusted himself off slightly and straightened out his clothes, as he shared his thoughts in his matter-of-fact fashion. “I still won.” He grinned teasingly at Jeremy, whose face became red. He clenched his teeth in annoyance and raised a finger to speak, but quickly let loose a large sigh, then started walking back towards his stack of books. “You’re a cheesy bastard, you know that?” He sounded defeated, but Wayco could hear the hint of playfulness in his voice. As Wayco began to walk off to the side of ''Maggie, ''he was intercepted by Redd. “You know that you won’t get off the hook that easily, right?” Redd’s face broke out into an enormous grin as he cracked his knuckles loudly. “We haven’t sparred in over a month, and I think we’re well past due for another one.” He situated himself into a combat-ready stance. Wayco rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck. “Yeah, you’re right. I guess I better go ahead and get this over with.” Wayco likewise readied himself into a fighting stance. Redd’s face was covered with excitement, as was Wayco’s. It had been well over a full month since the two of them sparred, and it had been even longer since Wayco had even come close of winning. “Then let’s get started!” Redd threw the first punch. Category:Stories Category:The Beginning of the End: Chapter 2